Flying Without Wings
| format = CD single | recorded = Rokstone Studios, London | studio = | venue = | genre = Pop | length = | label = BMG | writer = *Wayne Hector *Steve Mac | producer = Steve Mac | prev_title = If I Let You Go | prev_year = 1999 | next_title = I Have a Dream | next_title2 = Seasons in the Sun | next_year = 1999 | misc = }} }} "Flying Without Wings" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife and it was released on 18 October 1999 as the third single from their self-titled debut studio album. It is the band's third most streamed song, and their fourth best selling single of all-time on both paid-for and combined sales categories in the United Kingdom as of January 2019. Background The song was written by Wayne Hector and Steve Mac. In an interview with HitQuarters, Hector said the basic idea for the song came to him while on a break from working on a hip hop session with Ezi Cut in Los Angeles: I came up with a couple of lines for the first verse and then phoned my mama's house, left it on the answering machine, and said, “Don't get rid of this!”"Interview With Wayne Hector", HitQuarters, 1 Feb 2010. Upon returning to England, Hector went into the studio to work on the idea with long-time songwriting partner and producer Steve Mac. When the two discussed what the song was about they agreed that "this is about our wives. This is about the things that make our lives complete." According to Hector the lyrics were completed in about half an hour. The band's manager later revealed the song had been planned as the first solo single for Boyzone's Stephen Gately. "Stephen did the demo and he thought it was going to be his song," Walsh recalls. "I'll be quite honest, I missed it, but as soon as Simon heard it he just went bananas. It was really difficult because Westlife were on tour with Boyzone, as the support act." In a documentary aired on UTV called Westlife Back Home, band member Shane Filan said it is probably the best song of their career, while former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (band member Nicky Byrne's father-in-law) revealed it is his favourite tune from the chart-topping band. Commercial performance The song became the group's third UK number-one single, spending 13 weeks on charts. It is also one of Westlife's biggest selling singles. The song is the group's first single to received a Gold sales certification in the UK for over 400,000 copies sold. Track listing * United Kingdom ; CD1 # "Flying Without Wings" - 3:35 # "Everybody Knows" - 3:45 # "Flying Without Wings" (Video) - 3:40 ; CD2 # "Flying Without Wings" - 3:35 # "That's What It's All About" - 3:20 # "Flying Without Wings" (Acappella) - 3:29 * Australia # "Flying Without Wings" - 3:35 # "I Have a Dream" (Remix) - 4:06 # "Seasons in the Sun" (Single Remix) - 4:10 # "Flying Without Wings" (Video) - 3:40 Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications and sales Duets (Asia) | format = CD single | recorded = 2002 | studio = | venue = | genre = Pop | length = | label = *BMG *S.M. Entertainment | writer = *Wayne Hector *Steve Mac | producer = *Lee Soo Man *Steve Mac | chronology = BoA singles | prev_track = | track_no = | next_track = | misc = }} }} (Mexico) | format = CD single, digital download | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Pop | length = | label = | writer = *Wayne Hector *Steve Mac | producer = | prev_track = | track_no = | next_track = | misc = }} }} In 2002, as part of the promotion of their album Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1, the song was re-recorded as a duet with Mexican singer Cristian Castro and South Korean pop singer, BoA. Each duet was included on the Spanish & Asian editions of the album. Both duets were also released as singles in their two respective regions. Track listing * Mexico # "Flying Without Wings" (Duet with Cristian Castro) - 3:35 # "Never Knew I Was Losing You" - 4:09 * Asia # "Flying Without Wings" (Duet with BoA) - 3:35 # "Never Knew I Was Losing You" - 4:09 Live version In 2004, as part of the promotion for their Turnaround Tour, the band released the live version of the song. It was recorded during their tour in Stockholm Globe Arena. Their live version peaked at number one in UK Singles Chart and was the first ever number one in the UK downloads chart. Track listing * UK # "Flying Without Wings" (Live) Chart performance Video album A karaoke version of "Flying Without Wings" was released on DVD in 2000 and debuted at number one. It includes easy to read lyrics, photographs & interactive menus, picture sleeve. It has a running time of 45 minutes. Track listing # "Swear It Again" # "If I Let You Go" # "Flying Without Wings" # "Fool Again" # "Seasons in the Sun" # "I Have a Dream" # "More Than Words" # "Against All Odds" CD production Tours performed at *Where Dreams Come True Tour (2001) *World of Our Own Tour (2002) *Unbreakable Tour (2003) *Turnaround Tour (2004) *The Number Ones Tour (2005) *Face to Face Tour (2006) *The Love Tour (2007) *Back Home Tour (2008) *Where We Are Tour (2010) *Gravity Tour (2011) *Greatest Hits Tour (2012) *You and Me Tour (Shane Filan) (2014) *Boyzlife Tour (Boyzlife) (2017) *The Twenty Tour (2019) Other appearances The Westlife song has appeared in the 2000 Warner Bros. Pictures film Pokémon: The Movie 2000 as the final song of the credits in the film and on the official movie soundtrack. It is also the only Westlife song that coincidently coincided with the original Japanese release date of the Pokémon movie sequel. It also featured in the 2000 Australian film The Magic Pudding and 2000 French film Archibald the Koala: The Movie. On 12 May 2018, the song was performed on Korean music programme 'Immortal Songs 2' by Ali who placed second place that night. Band member Shane Filan was the featured 'Legend' and judged the participants. Ruben Studdard version | format = CD single | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = *Urban contemporary *contemporary R&B | length = | label = J | writer = *Wayne Hector *Steve Mac | producer = *The Underdogs *Face | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Superstar | next_year = 2003 }} "Flying Without Wings" was covered by American Idol winner Ruben Studdard as his debut single in 2003. The single was released on June 10 and charted at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 28, behind "This Is the Night" by Clay Aiken. "Flying Without Wings" also gained attention on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, peaking at number thirteen, while it reached number 27 on the adult contemporary chart. It was also released in New Zealand and reached number two behind Clay Aiken. The single had sold 751,000 copies through December 2006. This version of the song also appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol. Track listing # "Flying Without Wings" # "Superstar" References External links * * * * *Official Westlife website }} Category:1999 singles Category:2003 singles Category:Westlife songs Category:Ruben Studdard songs Category:Delta Goodrem songs Category:BoA songs Category:Cristian Castro songs Category:Pop ballads Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Songs written by Steve Mac Category:Songs written by Wayne Hector Category:Songs from animated films Category:Songs from Pokémon Category:Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Category:1999 songs Category:RCA Records singles Category:Sony BMG singles